Market cues to give you a head start on Thursday

The Indian equity market is likely to open on a flat note with a marginal positive bias. The SGX Nifty was trading at 7934, up 37 points at 7:50.

In the US, stocks ended about 2 percent higher as markets extended gains on the FOMC minutes and recovered from Tuesday’s selloff, closing 274.8 points higher; the Dow Jones industrial average had its best day since December 18, 2013. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had their best day since nearly a year ago on October 10, 2013.

And in Europe, shares closed mostly lower, as fears over global growth and the Ebola virus spooked investors. Peripheral markets like Russia, Portugal and Irish markets were all under pressure and ended with cuts of 1.5 percent to 2 percent.

In the currency space, dollar slipped to near 2-week lows against the euro after minutes of the Federal Reserve policy meet suggested the Central Bank could take its time in raising interest rates.

From precious metals space, gold climbed to its highest in nearly two weeks as US rate hike fears ease.

In commodities, Brent crude held on the USD 91 level as global growth forecasts have raised new concerns about oil demand. And that too, at a time when US crude inventory levels continue to rise.

Back home, banks saved the day on Dalal Street as major indices ended the day with marginal losses after a late recovery – IT and pharmaceutical stocks took it on the chin but the rupee continued to gain ground against the dollar. ( More details )

Meanwhile, the money market will be in focus today – OMO of Rs 10,000 crore has been announced to suck out liquidity.

The Supreme Court today will take up the petition that has challenged that government’s plans for divesting stake in Hindustan Zinc . With the government having set itself a target of 15,000 crore for divestment in non-PSUs, the government is expected to push hard to take the stake sale program through.

In the meantime, Coal India is not interested in taking over coal blocks deallocated by the Supreme Court. Sources in the company says it does not want to embark on the “tedious” process as the Centre is struggling to come up with a plan of action 3 weeks after de-allocation of more than 200 coal blocks.

On the pharmaceutical front, 14 pharma companies including Sun Pharma , Dr Reddy’s and Cadilla come under the scanner in the United States. In a first of its kind, the US Congress will probe price hike in 10 generic drugs.

In other news, the government gears up to hand out a Diwali bonanza as a diesel price cut is almost certain after the state elections on October 15, as Brent crude prices drop below USD 91 per barrel to hit their lowest level in 27 months.